TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS THURSDAY, DEC. 29,
the 364th day of 2016. There are two days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY:
On this date in 1916, James Joyce’s first novel, “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,” was first published in book form in New York after being serialized in London.
In 1170,
Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was slain in Canterbury Cathedral by knights loyal to King Henry II.
In 1808,
the 17th president of the United States, Andrew Johnson, was born in Raleigh, N.C.
In 1812,
during the War of 1812, the American frigate USS Constitution engaged and severely damaged the British frigate HMS Java off Brazil.
In 1845,
Texas was admitted as the 28th state.
In 1890,
the Wounded Knee massacre took place in South Dakota as an estimated 300 Sioux Indians were killed by U.S. troops sent to disarm them.
In 1934,
Japan formally renounced the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922.
In 1940,
during World War II, Germany dropped incendiary bombs on London, setting off what came to be known as “The Second Great Fire of London.”
In 1957,
singers Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme were married in Las Vegas.
In 1972,
Eastern Air Lines Flight 401, a Lockheed L-1011 Tristar, crashed into the Florida Everglades near Miami International Airport, killing 101 of the 176 people aboard.
In 1975,
a bomb exploded in the main terminal of New York’s LaGuardia Airport, killing 11 people (it’s never been determined who was responsible).
In 1986,
former British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan died in Sussex, England, at age 92.
In 1996,
guerrilla and government leaders in Guatemala signed an accord ending 36 years of civil conflict. North Korea issued an unprecedented apology for sending a spy submarine into South Korean waters.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS:
Country singer Rose Lee Maphis is 94. Actress Dina Merrill is 93. Actress Inga Swenson is 84. ABC newscaster Tom Jarriel is 82. Actress Mary Tyler Moore is 80. Actress Barbara Steele is 79. Actor Jon Voight is 78. Country singer Ed Bruce is 77. Rock musician Ray Thomas is 75. Singer Marianne Faithfull and Hall of Fame Jockey Laffit Pincay Jr. are 70. Actor Ted Danson is 69.